—— Zane's P.O.V.——

Waking up the next day had me feeling relatively refreshed.
I slowly open my eyes in reaction to the sun leaving rays on my face, and I half expect to see a sarcastic note when I turn to look at my nightstand.
No such luck. I sigh and walk into my bathroom. Getting my toothbrush ready, I look into the mirror and am surprised to see no circles under my eyes.
My eyes narrow, and I lean into my reflection, "How much did I sleep?" I continue to inspect my complexion and stick the toothbrush in my mouth.
By the time I come back into my bedroom, my phone is ringing. Shroud's caller I.D. Showing up on the screen makes my brow furrow.
He never calls my cell.
"You need something?" I say immediately after hitting the answer button.
"You have an interview set up for Good Morning Domino tomorrow," Shrouds voice sounds tired, "Your loss the other night was unexpected, and now that your wining streak has ended people wanna know what happened. I'll be taking ten percent of the profits of course,"
I drop onto my bed and sigh, "Fine, fine," I lean back against my headboard and run my free hand down my face, "Am I expected to be nice? How long's the interview anyway?"
"It'll be a ten minute segment, you don't have to be overly nice but you do have to show up and not actively try to murder the hosts. Can you do that?"
"Sure. Whatever," Starting to get impatient I say, "Just text me the details and time,"

I hang up before he can say another word.

——(Y/N)'s P.O.V.——

Dropping off Nicky at his class is always a window of opportunity when it comes to shopping. The class building is right next to the Domino Mall, and every once and awhile I go in just for the hell of it.
Today was one of those days.
While looking around I see a display of TV's all on the same channel.
"Coming up in the next hour, a very special interview with the pro duelist Hell Kaiser!" The TV's all displayed Zane's face looking rather stoic, "In this segment we will delve into what made him loose his composure in his last match, causing Dueling Doll to dethrone him. Stick around...."

Well, fuck.

.......

"Syrus!" I call out as I race back into the apartment, "Syrus! Are you still here?"
"Yeah!" Syrus sticks his head out of his room, "What's going on?" He raises his eyebrow when he sees my frantic state.
"Zane's gonna be on TV talking about the reasons he lost our duel," I take a deep breath and put my bags down, "I think we should watch in case he discloses something we don't want out there, y'know, like everything,"
Syrus' eyes widen and he runs past me to the TV, "What channel?"

....

Syrus and curls up on the couch as I stand past the couch, leaning in the back frame. Both our anxiety is clearly displayed as Syrus steadily rocks back and fourth and my fingers tap rapidly behind him on the back of the furniture.

"Good morning Domino!" The anchor of the show is revealed after the title card to be sitting down on an empty set. No sign of Zane.
"Today, we're joined virtually by the infamous Hell Kaiser," Zane's face shows up in a split screen. The background is his kitchen, "Welcome to the show Kaiser, glad you could join me,"
"Happy to be here," Zane responds, though he doesn't smile.
"Liar," both Syrus and I say at the same time. We look at each other and chuckle for a moment, some of our tension disappearing.
Not a lot, though.
"You, of course are known as a vicious pro duelist with your cutthroat methods and definitive strategies, leaving your opponents on their knees," The anchor looks at her cue cards to find what she should say next, "This form of dueling is what you're known for, and this mixture of intensity and intimidation has left you undefeated, that is until last week,"
Oh, boy.
I hop over the back of the couch and fly down next to Syrus, "Here we go,"
"Yes, yes," Zane nods his head, "Last week I had a rematch with Dueling Doll, and I lost,"
It's so strange hearing him say it out loud, a small smile makes its way onto my lips, pride swells through me, "I had won against her in an anonymous duel the week before, so the rematch was something a lot of her fans wanted to see. I thought I had the rematch in the bag, but she introduced new tactics and cards that persevered. I learned so much more about her at the second match, much more than I ever expected..."
I look over at Syrus, he starts breathing heavily. I grab his hand and give him a smile, hoping he doesn't see right through my reassurance.
Please Zane, I'm trusted you. Don't throw that trust away....

"I learned that she's just a better duelist than I am,"

"Oh, thank fuck," I breathe out, much louder than I expected.
Syrus visibly relaxes and his breathing slows.
"I thought I'd have another easy win under belt, but I soon learned during our rematch that the real reason I was able to beat her the first time, was because I had the element of surprise. Dueling Doll kept freezing up in our first match. I thought that was just how she played, but now I know it's because she just wasn't expecting a duelist of my caliber. When she knew it was me, Dueling Doll was as cutthroat as I could've been; she didn't let me get the upper hand. She was prepared, and clearly that speaks volumes for a duelist," Zane raps up his answer and the Anchor looks back at her cue cards.
"Hell Kaiser, before we wrap up, I have to ask, did you ever get a look behind her disguise? Can you shed some light on who this pro might be?"
"What the hell?" I groan a throw my head in the back of the sofa, "Just when I think we're out of the goddamn woods-"
Syrus grips onto my shoulder, "He could have thrown you to the wolves earlier, I don't think he'll do it now,"
"You have too much faith in people," I sigh into my hands, "He's taking too long to answer,"
I look back up at the TV to see Zane smiling into his camera.
Stop hesitating, asshole.
Zane chuckles and sighs, "The biggest regret of my life is not being able to see her face," what the fuck? "I did talk to her, and I've never connected to a person like her before," what the fuck? "I don't know if she's watching this but I hope she's paying attention to me the way I'm paying attention to her," his smirk grows wider. Not cruel, just fake. What the fuck? "I hope to see her soon, and I hope to see if she's as beautiful as I've imagined,"
"What the fuck?!"  I tear away from Syrus and grab my already ringing phone. Perfect, Astor.
"Are you watching Kaiser's interview? Please tell me your watching,"
"Oh, I'm watching. And he's hoping against hope that I am," I go back to standing behind the couch while Syrus stares at the TV with a horrified expression, "Just when I think he'll leave the publicity shit alone, he pulls this nonsense? Does he actually think he can convince people he likes me?"
"Well, you heard it here first folks," the anchor chuckles at her own camera, "Hell Kaiser's unique experience with the woman who dethroned him. Kaiser, thank you for your time,"
"Thanks for having me,"

.....

As soon as Zane stops talking the TV turns dark.
Looking over I see Syrus clutching the remote with a look I've never seen on him.
The rage in his face is indescribable.
"Astor, I'm gonna have to call you back," I say, hanging up.
"That.. that.. stupid motherfucker..." with every word he says, he gets louder, "He dragged you into this.. Publicly! What the actual fuck was running through his head?"
"He wasn't thinking at all," I shake my head and fall back on the couch, "he never seems to. He's emotionally impulsive these days," I sigh and run my hands through my hair.
"I'm gonna kill him," Syrus isn't calm by any means, but strangely enough, this is the most evenly tempered conversation about Zane I've seen from him.
He's not shaking. No spikes in emotions. Just one even stream of anger.
I don't know how I feel about this development.
"Syrus, do you think this is the reaction he wanted?" I turn to see him, "Do you think he wanted you to get this angry, to see the world the way he does?"
"I don't care," Sy looks me dead in the eyes with the most determination I've seen in any person, "He doesn't get to get away with this. He can't just blow up peoples lives, and bring them into the public eye. You don't deserve this, no one does,"
I give a shaky chuckle to his words, "You're right, fuck this," I stand up, "We'll find him, we'll contact him, and we will confront him. But right now I really need a breather," I walk to my room and look back, "Could you pick up Nicky from school today? I'm sure he'd love it,"
"Yeah, sure," Syrus starts to smile again, "I need to get out anyway,"
And with a nod I close my door.

....

(Y/N)
ANSWER ME JACKASS 10:24 a.m.
I MEAN IT YOU FUCKING PRICK 10:24 a.m.
ZANE 10:25 a.m.

Z
So I take it you saw my segment?
Did they get my good side? 10:25 a.m.

(Y/N)
Quick question: are you an actual sociopath?
I'd like to know

Z
Oh, come on, it was funny
I thought being friends meant we can joke about each other

(Y/N)
Fuck all the way off
We're meeting. You can't pull this shit by any means and the fact that you did this implies that I was wrong and that you are still the same sadistic asshole I know you've become
...
Syrus thinks so too

Z
Fine, where?

(Y/N)
Do you know The Gutter arenas?

Z
Yeah

(Y/N)
At 2 a.m. they shut the gates for the night and for 6 hours the whole place is off limits. I know how get in, and if you can figure out how to be there at 2, that's where will meet

Z
Fuck it, sure
See you tonight, pal

(Y/N)
I will actually step on you.

.....

"Sy!" I walk out of my room to find him lying down on the couch, "I got a tip on how to find Zane,"
Syrus shoots up immediately, "Really? What is it?"
"A buddy from The Gutters says he's seen Kaiser looming around waiting for it to close at 2. I think he's been going to try out his deck. Not often enough to get recognized, obviously, but it's worth looking into,"
"Yeah it is," Syrus nods, "but what about Nicky? We can't leave him her at two in the morning,"
"Maybe call the Flanagans? I bet they would let him have a sleepover at their house. I can call them,"
Syrus thinks for a moment before handing me the land line, "Do it,"

——Zane's P.O.V.——

"What the hell were you thinking?" Shrouds voice sounds more frustrated than angry. Like I'm a toddler who just cut his own hair, "Do you know what kind of position this puts both of us in? Now people are going to ask about your fake love life more than your skill."
"Yeah, here's the thing," I roll my eyes as I continue to drive down to The Gutters, "I wasn't really thinking. I just said whatever I wanted. And at the time I wanted to make fun of and annoy the girl that humiliated me on T.V." Lying to Shroud always makes me feel a bit better. Chuckling to myself, I look further down the road to see the gates of The Gutters already closed. I park a block down and pick up my phone, "Look, I'll take care of this, don't worry,"
"Being impulsive in the public eye is a new development for you, Kaiser. Don't make it a long lasting one,"
"If it were up to me I'd never be in the public eye again, but you wouldn't like that," and with that I hang up.
I take a moment to breathe.
Why did I say that?
I lean back and hit my head against the seat, and close my eyes.
I really wasn't thinking... And in turn I made Syrus mad, (Y/N) too.
What's wrong with me lately?
I open my eyes and get out of my car. Walking over to the gate, I notice the gutters has a fence that goes all the way to the back building, surrounding the arenas.
As I walk along the fence, I see two links tied together with twine, rather than being connected naturally. I run my fingers along the links under the twine.
This whole lines been butchered. If I just untie the top here.... gotcha.
A rip in the fence is made.
So this is how you get in huh? You are full of surprises, (Y/N).
I crawl through the fence and walk through the maze of platforms and arenas. With all the time I spend in the dueling world, I've never come here. Always felt as if it were beneath me, but from what I've found, this is how (Y/N) got her start.
I guess greatness can come from anywhere.

"You,"

I stop dead in my tracks when Syrus' rage filled voice speaks behind me.

"Turn around. Look at me. You owe me that much,"
Turning around, I see Syrus with (Y/N) standing a few feet behind him. This is the first time I've Syrus look as angry as he does.
I step back, "Why are you-"
"Shut up!" Syrus screams. No tears streaming down his face, he's not as overwhelmed as he usually is, "What the actual fuck, Zane? Who gave you the right?"
"Syrus, maybe we should let him try to explain himself," (Y/N) puts her hand in his shoulder, though she's still glaring at me.
Both of their reactions stings in a way I'm not familiar with. A feeling I don't want to last.
"No," Syrus turns to her, "he doesn't deserve to explain him self. He's dragged both of you into the spotlight. Anyone he's with is gonna get swarmed now. His ego has put all of us in danger. He put Nicky in danger. And he had no fucking reason. I'm tired of pretending there's a reason for his shitty behavior,"
Syrus turns back to me and starts walking toward me, "You've been a bad brother since I was born. I can name two fucking times you acted in my best interest, and only one of those times did you sacrifice something of yours. You told (Y/N) that you were torturing everyone around me in order to get me back, but have you ever considered talking to me? No, you didn't! Because you don't want me back, you just want to forgive yourself,"
Syrus stops walking when he's two feet away from me. I avert my eyes to the floor behind me and try to blink my tears back into my sockets and a grimace twists onto my face.
"Well, guess what? In order to forgive yourself, you have to do something to make up the difference. You care about me, and I care about you, but if this is how you're going to be the rest of your life, I don't want to be a part of it. Either put in the effort or get the hell out of our lives,"
Syrus crosses his arms and glares up at me. I want to run, I want to scream, but I just sigh instead.
"I'm sorry," I close my eyes and breathe, "you're absolutely right, and I was absolutely wrong. You don't deserve any of this," when I finally open my eyes I immediately look back up at (Y/N), "either of you,"

——Syrus' P.O.V.——

My eyes widen. I've never heard Zane apologize before. I wish it felt more fulfilling than it does, "That's nice, but it's really not enough," I start. I take a few steps back, "It's fucking twisted that it took you this long to realize you've done bad things. If you really want to improve you have to go beyond knowing that you need to change,"
"I know," Zane huffs, "I have to retract the stuff I said today,"
"You also have to stop breaking into other people houses," (Y/N) calls out behind me.
"Yeah, that too," Zane says before he bends down to sit by my level, "I just want to make you not have panic attacks around me. Is there anything immediate I can do to make that happen? Because it seems that the only way we can have a conversation without tears is by meeting up at two A.M. while you're pissed as hell,"
I chuckle a bit before sitting next to him, leaning against a duel platform.
"You could let me punch you," I say flatly.
Zane laughs, "I'm serious,"
Zane stops and turns to me with a raised eyebrow. And for the first time in months, we make eye contact. His eyes are still the bold blue I remember but they've weathered with sadness. It almost makes him forgivable.
Almost.
"What? You actually think punching me will make you happier around me?"
I nod and point behind me, "Her too, she's more than earned it,"
"I am totally on board with this plan," (Y/N) pipes in, "If Syrus thinks it'll help, I will bravely join in,"
(Y/N) walks up and sits down next to us, forming a weird circle.
She also adds, "I also think it's appropriate to have a letter written and singed by Zane formally apologizing to Astor and clearly stating that he'll back the fuck off. Sound good?"
I nod and hold out my hand to Zane, looking directly into his eyes. He huffs and takes my hand to shake it, "Sounds good,"

——(Y/N)'s P.O.V.——

Zane soon turns to me holding out his hand, "Sound good?"
I have a small grin on my face as I take his hand and give it a firm shake. It's just as warm as I remember, "Sounds good,"
...
"Alright, Syrus," I say, "Would you like to do the honors?"
"Holy fuck, yes," Sy hold up his fist, "Zane, your arm, please,"
Zane rotates his body so that his left arm is facing Syrus. And when Sy's fist hits his arm, I can see Zane's soul leave his body.
"Holy shit, Sy!" Zane actually starts gasping for air, "What the hell have you been doing to give you that kind of force?" His gasping soon turns to quiet laughter.
At some point, I join in.
It is pretty funny.
"Alright, my turn," I chuckle, and look over to Syrus, "Should I go for the arm or his face?"
"I don't know," Syrus rests his chin in his hand pretending to think, "He is a righty, so I think one good punch on the arm could knock him out of the duel arena for a solid week. But I think a good shiner could keep him out for a month,"
"Do I get a say?" Zane raises his hand.
"No," Syrus and I say, both of us laughing right after.
"It's okay, I'll be kind," I say as I shift over to the right side of Zane, "A week," and with that I hit him so hard my knuckles turn white and Zane topples over, grabbing onto me for support, taking me down with him.
I'm now on top of Zane and our noses are the only thing keeping us from smashing our heads together, so it's hard to not stare at him.
We're his eyes always this blue?
"Hi,"
"Hi,"
"...Hi?" We whip both our heads over to Syrus before I quickly get off of Zane. Sy looks concerned, but he's looking at Zane rather than me, "How hard did she hit that it made you both fall?" As Syrus says this he goes in and out of laughter.
Zane and I soon join in.

"Hey! Who's over there?"
We all nearly jump out of our skin when we see a flash of light shine down the isles of duel platforms.
"Fuck," I whisper, "the security guard usually doesn't come around at this point. It's too early,"
"We must've been too loud," Syrus hisses back.
"We gotta get back to the fence," Zane says as he stands up and gets ready to run.
We weave through the platforms, "Zane's right we gotta- Wait how do you know about the fence?"

....

When we get out of The Gutters we bolt down the street dying from laughter.
"I do not know how we got out, but we did," Syrus jogs in front of me and Zane and turns back to us and starts walking backwards, "We've never been that close to getting caught there before,"
"How many times have you gone to The Gutters after hours?" Zane raises an eyebrow, "That doesn't sound like you, Syrus,"
Sy's smile drops a bit, "Well, I've changed a bit," he turns back around and walks on the other side of me, "I've been having fun. (Y/N)'s been really cool to hang around, she's got my back," Syrus lightly punches my shoulder, and I sling my arm around his.
"I gotcha, kid," I shoot my eye back to Zane, his smirk is bittersweet. I link my arm with his and pull him in, "And now we both do. Right?"
Zane closes his eyes and smiles for a moment, "Yeah, we both do,"
"As long as you retract the stuff you said on TV today," I tack on.
Zane nods, "Yeah,"
"And stop trying to steal me,"
"Yeah, that too,"
"And no more blackmail,"
"Yes to all the above,"
"And you stop dressing like you're in the Matrix,"
"Fuck off, (Y/N),"
"Never,"
....
Zane dives off and me and Syrus head home.
"Can we talk about your confidence tonight?" I lean on Syrus with my arm still hooked on his shoulder, "That was awesome,"
Syrus blushes a bit and chuckles, "I still can't believe that was me talking. This whole meeting still doesn't feel real,"
"You guys actually got somewhere, though," I add, "You had serious and light moments, that's impressive,"
"And exhausting," Syrus yawns.
"Well, it's a good thing we're almost home then, huh?"
Syrus just nods as he leans into me with closed eyes.

—— The Next Day ——

The sun is already down when I walk into The Scarlet Lady and sliding into the back booth where Zane's already waiting, "Y'know you could just ask for the meeting to be earlier if you're gonna show up early,"
"I dunno," Zane smiles into his drink, "I like coming here just for the sake of coming here. The company's something I like too," he eyes Mary who comes over with my beer. She gives him a similar look.
When she leaves my jaw drops, "Really? You and her?"
Zane shrugs "It's nothing serious, we just hang out in the back room sometimes,"
"Gross," I pretend to gag. Though I'm overplaying it, I do feel a pang of something like in my gut. I don't like it very much, "That literally makes zero sense,"
Zane raises an eyebrow, "Why?"
"You're not her type," I say before I eye him up and down, "And vice versa,"
"And what does that mean?" Zane's voice is still joking, and that makes the pang stronger.
"It means what it means," I say curtly, "You two have nothing in common. And it clearly doesn't matter what I think, you're both gonna keep doing what you're doing,"
"Then why does it concern you so much," Zane leans forward like I'm about to spill a scandal.
"None of this concerns me, I'm just making an observation," I take a sip of my beer, "And that's not why I'm here anyway. Do you have the letter?"
"Yeah," Zane slides a slip of paper over, "I also have a follow up segment in two days to clear everything up. You and Sy really were right, by the way," I look up to see his face has turned to a scowl, "you have no idea how hard it was to come here unscathed,"
"Well, fame does have some unwanted side effects, you know that," I look back down the the letter, skimming it, "I still don't know why you need me to look over this. Shroud's gonna be the one to send it to Astor, not me,"
"Yeah, I know. But you're the one that wanted this letter to be as clear as possible, I just want you to see if it states exactly what you wanted," Zane says as I read over the letter.
"Looks good," I fold back up the paper and hand it back to Zane, "Ready to be sent,"
"Good," he looks back down to his drink, "how's Syrus doing?"
"Better," I nod, "Not angry. I've actually never seen him talk about you and Duel Academy so freely. No panic attacks, nothing. It's great to see,"
"Good to know. Hopefully he'll see I'm on his side," Zane takes a sip from his glass.
"He definitely knows you're trying," I say, "For the record, I see it too,"
Zane looks up and smiles lightly, "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah," I smile back, "You're not too bad. You might even be tolerable company,"
"Wow, high regards," Zane rolls his eyes.
"Actually, it is," I hold onto my bottle before taking a swig, "In a few weeks you went for literal demon to tolerable person, and this is coming from a person who hates most people,"
"Wow," Zane leans back in his booth, "In two more weeks will I be promoted to your best bud? Will we be engaged by the end of the month?"
I laugh before finishing off my beer"Because of that comment you've been demoted to most annoying creature known to man,"
I get up to leave, but Zane sticks out his foot, stoping me, "Rule one to any relationship, don't go to bed angry," He nods back to my side of the booth, "C'mon, hang out with me,"
"Why do you need me?" I laugh, "You can hang out with Mary," I step over his foot and turn to him before leaving, "I'm not angry, I promise. But it's nice to know you want us to get along,"
I walk away and wave, "Later, bud,"
"Later,"
....

I flop onto my bed and let out an exasperated breath.
My phone buzzes and it is no surprise to me when I see it's Zane.

Z
Sent the letter to Shroud, Astor should get it tomorrow

(Y/N)
Good:)

Z
Good night

(Y/N)
'Night

A warm feeling spreads to my chest, it's a similar warmth to Zane's hand.
I don't know what's happening to me, nothing a decent nights sleep won't fix.
And with that I turn my phone over and place it on my nightstand, right next to Power Bond.

————————

Well, look who finally updated!
Sorry it's been a hot minute, but I hope this chapter makes up for it.
Progress on all sides:)
Word Count: 4637